U.S. Links Man With 3 Bombs To a Terror Plot

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The Federal Government asserted today that a Japanese man convicted of possessing three powerful homemade bombs was part of an Japanese Red Army terrorist plot seeking revenge for the United States air raid against Libya in 1986.

In a brief submitted in Federal District Court for the sentencing on Monday of the man, Yu Kikumura, the Government contended that he planned to detonate the devices last April 14, the second anniversary of the air raid, and cause ''indiscriminate mass murder and mayhem.''

The bombing, apparently planned for Manhattan, was to be simultaneous with another terrorist explosion that did occur in Naples, Italy.

''His objective was to strike, not at any person or private group, but at the United States as a nation,'' Samuel A. Alito Jr., the United States Attorney for New Jersey, said in the brief. Recruiting Center Thought Target

No precise target was mentioned in the brief. But Federal authorities say they believe it was a Navy recruiting station on West 24th Street in Manhattan. A map found in Mr. Kikumura's car after his arrest in New Jersey last April 12 bore a pen mark near the station's location, Mr. Alito said.

Mr. Kikumura's lawyers, William M. Kunstler and Ronald L. Kuby, called the Government contentions ''wildest speculation and innuendo'' and said the only facts documented in court are Mr. Kikumura's purchase of materials for and construction of a bomb.

The defense memo said the linking of Mr. Kikumura to international terrorism was tenuous and inflammatory. Defense Asks For Hearing

Mr. Kunstler and Mr. Kuby appealed to the presiding judge, Alfred J. Lechner, to order a hearing requiring the Government to prove its assertions.

Mr. Alito argued against a hearing, saying that the rules of evidence governing court trials are not applicable to sentencing information. The only requirement, he said, is that it be reliable. Compelling confidential informants to appear at sentencing hearings, he argued, could hinder future investigations of international terrorism.

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Mr. Kikumura refused to challenge the Government's charges during a rare non-jury trial last November, and Judge Lechner convicted him outright. Mr. Kunstler plans an appeal on the ground that the initial search of Mr. Kikumura's car was illegal.

Although the charges carry a maximum sentence of 100 years, this case falls under Federal guidelines that prescribe miniumum sentences unless there are aggravating circumstances. Recommendation Called 'Absurd'

A Federal probation report submitted to Judge Lechner earlier did not apply any aggravating circumstances to Mr. Kikumura's case and suggested a sentence of 27 to 33 months. Mr. Alito called that recommendation ''absurd'' and argued that Mr. Kikumura should receive the equivalent of a life term.

Mr. Alito's brief shed new light on some of Mr. Kikumura's activities before he flew to New York from Paris last March 8. Between the fall of 1986 and July 1987, Mr. Kikumura underwent training with other members of the Japanese Red Army at a terrorist camp in the Bakaa Valley on the Syrian-Lebanon border, according to an admitted terrorist who also served as a confidential informant, the brief said. While there, Mr. Kikumura was called by the Arabic name Abu Shams.

Japanese first began training there in bomb making and detonation in 1984, the brief said. The Japanese Red Army contingent was headed by Fusako Shigenobu, the brief said. In June, 1987, she was invited to Libya, the brief said without elaboration.

Ms. Shigenobu's deputy at the camp during Mr. Kikumura's time there was identified in the brief as Junzo Okudaira. Italian police have identified Mr. Okudaira as the prime suspect in the Naples bombing. The device destroyed an American U.S.O. club, killing five, including an American serviceman.

Two days before that explosion, Mr. Kikumura was arrested near the northern end of the New Jersey Turnpike after a four-week, 7,000-mile car trip that took him to 17 states, during which, the brief said, he bought bomb-making material in six cities and assembled the devices in fire extinguisher casings.

A version of this article appears in print on February 4, 1989, on Page 1001030 of the National edition with the headline: U.S. Links Man With 3 Bombs To a Terror Plot. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe